Q&A with Molly from the Secret Linen Store

During the spring of 2013, sisters Molly and Harriet had an unusually productive cup of coffee. Knowing that their dream had always been to work together, this particular blend of Monmouth brought them to their senses and they finally decided to set up their own business.

Their experiences in textiles, retail and marketing suggested something creative, with colourful designs and tactile textures. Moreover, the aromas of coffee brought their minds back to those private moments in the early morning, before we leave our bedrooms. As Molly and Harriet know, we spend almost half of our lives under the covers and, wanting to make that time as refreshing as possible, the Secret Linen Store was born.

Almost three years later, the Secret Linen Store has gone from strength to strength. Molly’s talent for design and Harriet’s entrepreneurial know-how means that all their bedding is up to 40 per cent lower than what you would find on the high street. Always delighted at the prospect of sharing their vision with other people, Molly was kind enough to respond to some questions about why the Secret Linen Store has been so successful.

Where did the idea for the company come from?

I have been making bed linen for many years, for many different retailers in the UK. Harriet has been working in the home retail sector in marketing for many years. It seemed like the perfect thing to do one day, to create our own brand and make great bed linen for everyone.

Where do you draw inspiration from for your designs?

I can be inspired by anything, from a street sign to a butterfly. I don’t get as much time to design as I would like to, but when I do, I can find inspiration all around. Colour combinations found in nature are my favourite as they always work together. I have always been drawn to plants and flowers, and quite often start there and see where we end up!

What do you think makes your designs unique?

We have a unique approach to colour and design, and would like to encourage people to add some colour to their beds. I like to think about the bed as a picture, and colour it in with pattern and texture. Our bedding is all designed to mix and match, and we have used the same warp colour across many of our designs which means that they all work well together. We have worked with some great colours such as purple and yellow... the more colour the better for us. We do also sell the classic plain-white collections, but we encourage our customers to mix white up with some colour too.

Where are your products manufactured?

We have worked with factories all around the world, and have settled with some fabulous factories in Portugal. This is the world centre for excellence in bed linen, and we feel that we are in the right place.

How do you ensure the quality of your products?

We spend a lot of time in our factories to ensure that the quality is perfect. We do lots of testing too, and we all sleep in Secret Linen Store bedding each night to make sure it is perfect.

What is your best seller?

Our bestsellers vary from week to week. Our Teasels bedding is great for us, and we run this in three colour ways. We also know that our customers love grey, and all of our grey bedding works really well. White bedding is also a real favourite, and our top quality 600 thread count bedding is the best that we have found – our customers love it.

Where can your products be purchased?

We sell all of our bedlinen through our online store secretlinenstore.com. We are a low-cost business model, and by not having stores, we can keep our costs down and pass on our savings to our customers.

Do you have any tips on caring for your linens?

Loads! Caring for your bedding will ensure that you get the most out of it. It can be hard in our busy lives, but washing it and letting it dry naturally will always be the best for the bedding and will also help with ironing. Tumble-drying bedding until it is bone dry will leave you with a bit of a crumpled mess to deal with. If you tumble dry, tumble it until it is nearly dry and then dry it flat for the last stage of drying.

Our other top tip is to iron your fitted sheets on the bed, test a small patch, and don’t do this if you have a polyester mattress or topper…but this is a great way to get fitted sheets to look great. We have also created a super video to guide you through folding a fitted sheet with our friend Cat, and you can see it here.

Do you have any tips for styling a guest bedroom?

We recommend using a flat sheet and plenty of pillows. A flat sheet gives the feel and look of a super hotel, and it also saves on washing. If you have different guests staying, change the flat and fitted sheet between them, and leave the duvet cover on.